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A charter school is a tuition-free public school open to all students. A charter school is governed by an autonomous Board and held accountable by the authorizing agent to the terms of the charter.
What does it mean to be a “public school open to all students”?
Like traditional, comprehensive high schools, a charter school is open to all students, regardless of preparation. To apply to a charter school, a student merely fills out basic information (name, address etc.) If a school receives applications for more students than it can take, then the school holds a random lottery. The first names drawn in the lottery are offered admissions. This process ensures that the admitted class reflects the diversity of the applicant pool.
How are charter schools funded?
In California, school funding “follows the student”. The state allocates an annual minimum amount to educate each public school student and that amount follows the student to whichever public school s/he attends. The current allocation is $6,700 per student.
Unfortunately, many charter schools operate on less than their traditional school counterparts. Charter law permits districts to pass along only the minimum state allocation per student. Though the property taxes collected by the Sequoia District provide over $9,600 of funding per student, Everest will only receive the minimum allocation of $6,700 per student. The SUHSD will keep the remaining amount. Record of this funding disparity funding in 2007/08 can be found on the California Department of Education website.
What does it mean to be “accountable”?
A charter school must meet all of the student performance and operational goals listed in its charter, or its charter may be revoked by the authorizing agent. In California, the authorizing agent can be the local school district, the County Office of Education or the State Board of Education.
Additionally, a charter must comply with many of the same state regulations as a traditional public school. This includes employing credentialed teachers in core subject and college preparation classes and administering state tests, such as STAR and the California High School Exit Exam.
How is a charter school different?
Charter administrators, faculty, staff and parents have considerable freedom in designing an educational program, facilities and budget that meet the needs of their students.
The Charter Schools Act of 1992, was enacted to accomplish all of the following (California Education Code Section 47601)
(a) Improve pupil learning.
(b) Increase learning opportunities for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils who are identified as academically low achieving.
(c) Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods.
(d) Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site.
(e) Provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system.
(f) Hold the schools established under this part accountable for meeting measurable pupil outcomes, and provide the schools with a method to change from rule-based to performance-based accountability systems.
(g) Provide vigorous competition within the public school system to stimulate continual improvements in all public schools. To learn more about charter schools, please visit these sites:
National Alliance for Charter Schools
California Charter Schools Association
Center for Education Reform report on Charter Schools, 08/25/2008
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